Can blockchain and cryptocurrencies be separated? Describe the evolution of my thinking.

Recall that I started investing in blockchain in 2017 because I saw an article on how to use blockchain technology in the Internet of Things (IoT). At that time, the length of "blockchain" on Wiki was still very short. I remember only four or five paragraphs. Obviously I understand every English word, but I don't understand it together, "secure by design"? I had absolutely no idea what it meant, and Google "secure by design" basically couldn't find any more explanation at the time.

Continuing to search on the Internet, I watched a two-minute short video of Vitalik Buterin introducing Ethereum, which is a very official kind of promotional video. I didn’t know what he was talking about for 119 seconds. What was he talking about? What the hell are you talking about? But I know that the tools provided by Ethereum can develop decentralized applications (DApp), and decentralization may solve the problems of social networks that we have noticed. In my mind at the time, Bitcoin and Ethereum were not important, blocks Chains are more important than them, but the most important thing is "decentralization". Then I bought two books :

I also made my first cryptocurrency trade : I bought some bitcoins with Hong Kong dollars on a defunct exchange in Hong Kong. Why Bitcoin? Since ETH/HKD trading was not available at the time, I first used HKD to buy Bitcoin and then Bitcoin to ETH. So why should I buy ether? This was used to pay for "gas" on Ethereum in the future (still confused then, in fact I am still confused).

I'm a low-level mid-ring creature

When I joined the society in 2004, I was a traditional Hong Kong financier, studying finance, accounting, holding FRM , and working in a bank. After living in the form of a low-level creature for five years, although I survived the financial tsunami, it made me a little enlightened. From a point of view) a person who insists on not doing a good job, and then I joined his Internet business and became a start-up creature lower than the low-level Zhonghuan biology. This was 2009-2010, when Hong Kong did not have the word "start-up" at all.

When I was in college, I had already speculated on warrants, because the entry threshold was low and the volatility was large enough. Slowly, my Hong Kong stock and U.S. stock index futures, options, warrants, CBBCs, foreign exchange, gold futures, and oil were speculated on everything. As I have been doing business on the Internet for a long time, I have seen some entrepreneurs working hard to create value for users. In contrast, I can see that the financial industry is a group of people who are playing tricks on these hard-working people. I feel that finance is synonymous with corruption, greed, and bad. Coupled with the memory of the financial tsunami, I have also left the ranks of speculators. Slowly, I feel that there is an antibody in my body. When I see some financial speculation elements, there will be a kind of disgust and nausea. This was probably around 2012-2013.

From blockchain-oriented to cryptocurrency-oriented

In 2017, I looked down on blockchain, but I looked down on cryptocurrencies, because I thought cryptocurrencies were played by a group of opportunistic financial scammers. Looking back now (in fact, it was only less than three years), of course, the me of yesterday has been completely overthrown.

We met the Cosmos project at the end of 2017, and then gradually got to know some of them. I often say (even with her face to face) that Chjango Unchained of Cosmos/Tendermint can be regarded as a remote enlightenment teacher for me. I started a lot The knowledge of blockchain is obtained from the article of this post-90s ABC, and from her article, I can find more reference objects. I interacted with her for the first time at the Shanghai Blockchain Week in 2018. When it comes to Bitcoin, she mentioned Andreas Antonopoulos, and I didn't take it too seriously at the time (in fact, who can remember the name?),

At the beginning of 2019, a dear friend approached me on Telegram, and he approached us because of his interest in Cosmos. At that time, because of our active role in Cosmos, we began to have a little reputation in the overseas blockchain circle. At least everyone looking for Cosmos should not be difficult to find @Forbole. After a while, he became our investor. He is an early Bitcoin enthusiast. In addition to being our investor, he is also our mentor and friend. I believe that if a startup wants to find an angel investor, it is to find this kind of bole. Imagine an investor who not only invests himself, but also introduces other investors to you, and will discuss and share knowledge and contacts with you. When we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, he will instead tell us not to rush, but to be slow. stroll. What more do you want?

More importantly, he started my Bitcoin journey. Because of his influence, I became more and more fascinated to explore the mysteries of Bitcoin. This learning process made me continue to shape my own values. Orientation shifts to cryptocurrency orientation.

Bitcoin and Blockchain

It’s hard to say if Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency because it has to do with how a cryptocurrency is defined, but it was certainly the first to hit the mass market. Bitcoin is a brand-new application designed by combining several existing computer technologies with economic principles, that is, the technologies it uses are not new when viewed individually, but Nakamoto cleverly combined them. Become a brand new application to solve a problem: how to get rid of the centralized money printing machine.

Satoshi Nakamoto did not directly use the word "blockchain" in the Bitcoin white paper, but only used "chain of blocks", "chain of hash-based proof-of-work", "chain of digital signatures" and other descriptions ( Later, Satoshi Nakamoto used the word blockchain in the bitcointalk discussion forum). The multiple designs of Bitcoin revolve around a core question: how can both parties be assured of trading without the need for third-party credit? First of all, we need to know why our current monetary system works like this, who is the service object of this system (the powerful, the government), and then gradually design a transaction network that can exclude the authority of these centers, so the blockchain approach is to achieve "how to get rid of the center" The goal of "money printing machine", and blockchain is not the goal itself.

(I will talk about Bitcoin slowly in the future)

Trend: The sheep's head hanging on the blockchain is selling centralized dog meat

You may ask, Bitcoin showed the blockchain to the world, and then someone was inspired to think that blockchain could solve other problems, why not? Isn't Ethereum an example? In fact, Ethereum and many other I think truly decentralized applications or platforms, they will not and can not leave the cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency and blockchain cannot be separated, because the necessary element of blockchain is network security, and the economic structure brought by cryptocurrency is a necessary element of network security.

If a project claims that it is a blockchain project and erases the elements of cryptocurrency, I doubt that the project does not need to use blockchain at all, you use cloud storage, you use digital signature, you use Asymmetric cryptography is fine, but why do you say you use blockchain? If the economic element of cryptocurrencies is erased, the use of blockchain will only be superfluous, and it will reduce performance.

I have to reiterate this point over and over again: Blockchain is not a panacea, and if you want to truly use blockchain, you must include the economic infrastructure of cryptocurrencies. In China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, I have seen too many institutions and start-ups with blockchains selling centralized dog meat. Of course, if everyone thinks that it is right to use blockchain technology to strengthen centralized governance, this is the difference in values.

refer to:

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, Satoshi Nakamoto

I'm@Terence, co-founder of the start-up@Forbole, I hope that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can bring true autonomy and improve living standards to mankind, I love Bitcoin but not maximalist, he loves blooming flowers but hates shitcoins zero tolerance. Thank you for your appreciation, it's my biggest motivation. What I publish on different platforms is a little different, maybe you are interested in paying attention to:

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